A Different World
by RememberUs
Summary: An Italian princess is trapped as a child in Arizona when the invasion begins. She escapes and avoids the Seekers until she find herself in a whole different world in the caves
1. The Beginning

_**Dear viewers, this is my second fanfic, I hope you all like it, I don't own The Host, all the credit from that goes to Stephenie Meyer, and please review, I appreciate them greatly! -RememberUs (side note: I'm making up the royalty of Italy, I'm pretty sure there isn't a king there…)**_

I'm with my daddy in America, he had a meeting with the president and we decided to travel around and we ended up in Arizona. It's a pretty place; daddy tells me that one day I can come here all I want, when I'm queen. He tells me to practice my English but sometimes I can't, I'm from Italy, so sometimes I have to speak Italian when I forget words. Daddy says it's okay; I have plenty of time to practice. We're sitting in a hotel lobby when a woman wearing black walks into the room, I'm slightly frightened, she has a squarish bulge in her back pocket and a knife shaped bulge in her boot. She pulls out the gun and stuns the man at the desk, I hear myself screaming. She shoots my daddy next.

"Aiuto!" I scream in my girly voice, but nobody comes. "Help!"

His heart is still beating, I don't know what she's doing, it's shocked him but there's no blood. He's just stunned. She grabs me and gently but firmly picks me up and carries me outside. I look up. Her eyes are so unusual; they are a light blue but with a prominent silver streak in the middle. I kick and scream. I don't know why but this woman looks like she will do worse than kill me. She looks at me like she's hungry. I kick out of her grasp and run. I'm the fastest runner for as young as I am where I'm from. The lady doesn't look concerned. She just talks into a walkie-talkie and walks away. I keep running till my feet bleed.

… Ten years later …

I learned that that woman was a Seeker. Her job was to find humans and Turn them. I know because when my dad found me, he brought a ton of Seekers and his eyes weren't the same. They were silver. I've been hanging around Arizona and California for a while now, I've bettered my English. I've mostly avoided the Seekers except a few close calls, causing the many scars on my body, but last week was too close. They found my cave and saw me but I was too quick for them. My small, lithe body gave my speed. My hair is so long, it slowed me down a bit. It's as long as my waist and a white-blonde, contrasting to my Italian heritage and dark haired and dark skinned relative, I am very fair and I have icy blue eyes that sparkle in the sun. But they don't reflect. So, naturally, I bought silver contacts. So, I'm usually prepared for Seekers unless –like last week- I was in a cave with dirty hands and no time. So I ran, and ran… And ran… And, here I am: in the middle of a hot desert with sunburn EVERYWHERE. I lost my t-shirt (I was changing when the Seekers came) so I'm in cut-off denim shorts and a tan sports bra. I'm so tired and I ran out of water and granola this morning. My pack is so heavy, it shouldn't be (it holds only my contacts, a hunting knife, and a pack of gum) but it is. I fall under a small shrub, covering my face and my body cannot get up. I'm so tired and hot. I can just sleep for a while…

I am woken up by voices. I want to look but I can't open my eyes with all the sun.

"A soul?" One asks, a smooth, deep voice.

"Check its eyes," another says, this one's voice is almost identical.

"I recognize her I think, looks a bit like King Pietro, but… In teenage girl form…" One says with a tired but deep voice.

"Just open her eyes, I want to get on this damn raid," one with a rough but kind voice says. One of my eyelids is flipped open and I cringe as a flashlight shines in my eye. "It seems to be human. Check her neck," he says and I see (with my slitted eye) a tallish guy with fair skin and dark-as-night hair pick me up and look at my neck.

"All good," he says. He's one of the two with similar voices. He looks down at me with blue (it's almost silver) eyes, I'm too tired to be alarmed. He hands me a water bottle and they start walking (with me in his arms) towards the cliffs and mountains. I drink it sand it's like heaven. I want to protest but the water was so kind of them and they seem pretty nice. I reach my arm up behind his neck to hold myself up and I feel a little scar on the back of his neck. Oh, no. I scream bloody murder and kick out of his grasp. He clutches his diaphragm –good. Bloody parasite. - I run. I run for my life like the hounds of hell were chasing me. Except only one of them wasn't surprised by my sudden adrenaline rush (which was rapidly wearing out) I look back and he's an arm reach away. He looks about 19 but I can't tell. He quickly leaps and wraps his arms around me and we tumble. I eat sand. Let me tell you –EW- and my blood rushes in my body with barely any water or food. I pass out, naturally in the most dangerous situation ever with a bunch of souls around me.


	2. The Meeting

_**So, once again: I don't own The Host, If you like this, please review. Love you!**_

I wake up in a dusty smelling place with hard ground under my back. It's lumpy and uncomfortable. I can sense the people around me (they're breathing heavily) and I open my eyes. They meet a pair of dark brown ones a few inches away. I scream and jump, knocking our foreheads together.

"Ow," he says in an amused voice. It's the younger boy and one with dark hair and a crooked nose. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you, but I did kind of tackle you so… I'm sorry," he said blushing. I nod. I'm very afraid. My heart is facing and I'm very hot. The other man (I'd say in his thirties) is just staring down at me. "Kyle, quit staring," the boy says and the tall man looks away, I guess he's Kyle. I'm glad his piercing blue gaze isn't on me anymore. It was quite nerve-wracking.

"Where-" my voice breaks and cracks and my throat protests to the lack of water. I clear it and push on. "Where am I?" I ask quietly.

"I'm Jamie Styder, thanks for asking," he says and squinches his eyes up and sticks out his tongue, cute. "You're in the caves here in Arizona, but specifically, you're in my bedroom. We've got about thirty some humans here living together," he is shushed by Kyle who is staring daggers at me. What's his problem?

"How?" I ask quietly. At this he smiles and flexes dramatically.

"I carried you!" he says looking proud.

"For about five minutes," Kyle mumbles and Jamie sticks his tongue out at him, but turns back to me and smiles. "What's your name?" he asks and tilts his head to the side like a listening puppy. He just does so many random cute things, I'm not sure if he notices. I lift my head high and shake my long hair behind me.

"I'm Caterina DeLuca," I say and stare into his eyes defiantly, daring him to be… well… I'm not sure what I'm daring him to do but I don't want them to think I'm a prissy princess who can't do jack shit. (I like that saying, I heard some Americans say it before they were Turned.)

"Italian royalty, seventeen, said to be adopted (You are blonde you know, don't give me that look) but is biologically related to the king," Kyle says monotonally in one breath looking bored. My mouth pops open and I can't form words. WTF?

"Kyle?" Jamie asks and looks about as shocked as I feel.

"What? My parents had government jobs. I know things." He says grumpily. He walks out when we continue to stare at him.

"Is that normal?" I ask pointing in the general direction of the archway of a door.

"No, not really…" he trails off and holds his hand out. "It's lunch time then I'll give you a tour okay?" he says and I nod, taking his hand and letting him help me up. The tunnels are quite dark for a while so he places two fingertips at the small of my back to guide me. I don't mind it though; it's slightly comforting in this unusual, strange place. When we reach a bright lighted room he lets go, I feel slightly colder now.

"This is like a main plaza, the crops are here," he says and pulls me towards another archway into a kitchen/dining room. "This is where we eat, are you hungry? Cuz I am." He says, beaming. He pulls my hand and we get some hard-looking bread, a cup of murky water, and some raw vegetables. Not too bad considering we're in a bunch of caves. Some people are finished and leaving so it's just me, Jamie, Kyle, his twin, a small blonde girl and a small dark skinned woman. We all sit together and it is pretty quiet. Kyle and the dark-skinned woman gt up and leave. She looks at me and her eyes reflect the light from the skylight. But, they reflect silver circles.

Jamie POV:

I see Caterina tense up and stare at Sunny's eyes. I lean over and whisper to her.

"It's okay. Sunny is friendly. So is Wanda. See? Look." I say and she looks at them both who are smiling shyly and slightly hiding behind (or in Wanda's case being hidden by) her own O'Shea twin. Caterina nods and quietly continues eating. When we're finished I show her a quick tour, take her to the bathrooms and we're sitting on my mattress looking at the crack in the ceiling.

"I love how you can see one star, yet that one is so bright," she whispers and I turn my head towards her with my hands behind my head.

"Yeah, beautiful," I sigh and admire the way the star reflects on her icy eyes and turns her hair almost silver. She sits up quick and I follow.

"Jamie, where am I sleeping?" she asks, turning pink. "Well I'm alone cuz Jared is with Mel, but a lot of them are on a raid… But I have a second mattress if you want…" I mumble the end out but she's looking at me so intensely.

"Thank you" she whispers and suddenly I'm on the receiving end of a tight hug. "I don't want to be alone," she says in a broken voice and I see tears escaping her tightly shut eyes. "Hey," I whisper and pull her close and lean my head on top of hers. "It's okay," I say and she starts sniffling. She eventually falls asleep and I lay her on the mattress and go back to mine, getting into a pair of boxers and falling into a deep sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

_**I do not own the Host. I enjoy reviews very much If you like this fanfic, please tell me or I'll probably just end it.**_

This morning Jamie gave me a long tour of all the tunnels and he took me to the bath room, and handed me a flashlight to clean myself and my clothes. I'm actually getting to know Wanda, at breakfast she told us about her experiences from other worlds, as much as I don't like Seekers, well… Frankly, Wanda isn't a Seeker, and I like her. I'm helping Jamie water the plants in the bi room with all the mirrors and sunlight, he told me how Jeb created and found this place. After a while we're finished but kind of gross… So, we bathe and get some lunch. Apparently there are people on a raid so we're limited to hard bread and vegetables. We eat in relative silence, after that we go to play soccer. I'm not sure what that is… But then Mel (that's Jamie's sister, he said Wanda was once inside of her…) told me it was like Italian football. Granted, I haven't played in a while but I was really good as a kid and I have nice muscles from running all my life so I decide to play. Ian and Jared (that's Mel's mate) are team captains.

"Mel," Jared says and she runs over and he puts his arm around her.

"Kyle!" Ian yells and Kyle comes over and puts Ian under his arm, mocking Jared ande Mel. This causes Ian to bite Kyle's arm and they begin wrestling.

"Jamie!" Jared yells and he jogs over.

"Cat!" Ian yells and I realize he's given me a nickname and I walk over. I don't know many of the other people and I'm not good with names and faces. I'm a goalie or our team and Kyle and Ian are forwards. They own the court but Mel, Jared and Jamie are good as well. Once they got the ball past the O'Shea's and Jamie kicked it far off to my left but I dive and catch it just in time (scraping my elbow up pretty bad but it was too epic to matter) Wanda and Sunny clap from the sides and I wonder why they don't play. A woman with a black and white braid takes my place as goalie and I defend for her. After about a half hour the score is 1-1 and Mel has the ball and is coming towards me, I kick at the ball but hit a bit too low and the ball (and Mel's foot) slams into my gut. I double over and clutch my diaphragm, I'm trying to get air and Mel kneels down next to me.  
"Are you alright?" she asks calmly. I hold up one finger and mutter "Gesù, Maria e Giuseppe," and she laughs. I get up and smile, breathing through my teeth.

"I'm good," I say and Mel pats my arm and it comes away bloody.

"Shit, what happened?" she asked and sa=tarted pulling me away.

"I fell diving for a ball, where are we going?" I say and she pulls me faster. I'm getting kind of dizzy. That's really bloody…

"Doc's… shit. Can somebody carry her?" she asks and somebody picks me up. I think it's Jamie and he starts running.

"Shit, shit, damn shit!" he yells and that's all I remember…

_**Sorry this is so short but barely anybody reads this so I'm just kinda filling up a chapter with stuff… Sowwy**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**I don't own the host, if you guys like this please review or I may just stop writing it : (**_

I wake up on a hard cot with my arm bandaged and somebody checking the pulse in that wrist. I look over and see a man ion a white coat who I remember from brief flashes of consciousness is Doc (Wanda called him Eustace.)

"Ciao, ragazzi. Cual è il problema? Stai guardando me come se fossi un pesce con tre occhi. " I say. They all look confused. Shoot, sometimes my brain switches off English. "Err, uh… I mean hey guys, what's the problem; you're looking at me like I'm a fish with three eyes…" I trail off and they nod in understanding.

"You bled a lot, passes out and started mumbling in Italian when you were unconscious, also there was twitching, definitely some twitching going on," someone rattles off nervously and my eyes widen. Then Jamie comes into view and looks down at me reassuringly.

"You're doing fine now, though, you can get up when you're ready," he says and holds out a hand, I take it and stand up. Immediately I am swamped with dizziness and black splotches and a buzzing noise in my ears.

"Shit," someone says quietly and I fall into unconsciousness.

Jamie POV:

She falls and I catch her before her head cracks on the floor, I put her onto the cot and keep holding her hand.

"Water, she needs water," doc says and when she wakes, she only sits up and drinks water, I help her to our room and we sit on my bed and watch the stars.

"Thanks for helping today," she says and I turn my head, finding her looking at me.

"Not a problem, I like helping," I say and offer a small smile. She smiles too and looks wistfully into the stars.

"Sometimes I just go off in Italian. It's like my brain shuts out the English and I can't even find the word hello without making a major effort," she says and I reply.

"That's so cool though, that you speak both languages so well, I wish I knew something more than Spanish and English," I say and she looks over.

"I could teach you some Italian if you teach me Spanish," she says and I smile.

"I'll teach you as much as I know because when school starts on Monday (it sucks by the way) you're going to have to know Spanish as well as I do (which granted isn't a lot but still)," I say and she nods and looks back at the crack in the ceiling. She sits up and I follow.

"I'm going to get some sleep. Thanks again," she says and hugs me. I put my arms around her and to my surprise we sit there for a while, but I like it. I stroke her hair with my hand and after a while she falls asleep. I let out a quiet chuckle and carry her to her bed, I pull the covers up and head to my bed and fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow.

~.~.~.

Cat POV:

I wake up and realize I'm still in my clothes from the desert (but Jamie let me borrow a t-shirt) but it's still gross. I look over and he's sprawled over the whole bed and I laugh to myself. Nothing will wake that boy up. I go over and sit on the edge of the bed and shake him. He wakes and rubs his eyes, he's shirtless and he has really nice muscles like everywhere… he catches me staring and I blush.

"Do we… ah… can I get a different pair of clothes?" I ask and he smiles.

"Of course, I'll take you to Mel and she'll help you," I smile and get up. "Breakfast?" he asks and I nod and wave for him to come. He throws on a shirt and we go to eat.

The food is too boring to describe so I'll skip to just me and Mel at a storage room and she picks up a black spandex t-shirt and short denim shorts, she holds them out but when I reach out she pulls them back. I look at her questioningly.

"I know you like Jamie," she says bluntly and I know I'm blushing but its dark so I nod.

"If you hurt him, I will hunt you down in these caves and leave you out there for the coyote's" she says and I nod. "Good talk." She says and hands me the clothes and I follow her out.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Dear viewers, sadly only one person reviews :( but I thank them greatly for doing so! Anyway, I don't own the Host, nor will I ever own the Host so… here goes nothing:**_

Jamie and I work in the fields for a while, and when I say a while, I mean a LONG while. We harvest all of the plants and when everyone leaves for lunch we stay and water the remaining plants and turn some of the soil. When we are finished we are sitting against a wall leaning against each other and breathing heavily. I'm sweating profusely and we're drinking buckets and buckets of water. When my breathing is back to normal Jamie stands and holds his hand out to me, I take it and he helps me stand. The light is reddish with the setting sun and Jamie leads me to the kitchen to get dinner.

When we arrive Wanda is in the middle of a story about her time as a See Weed and she's kneading a big pile of dough as she does it. Not a bad idea, if I were to share my stories I'd want something to occupy myself as well. I've got some stories to tell, maybe I'll tell Jamie, he seems like the listening type.

No offense to dear Wanda but I'm too exhausted to listen, when Jamie taps on my shoulder and nods to the door I stand up sluggishly and follow. We reach our room and I lay next to him on his mattress admiring the stars.

"So, you never did tell me how you got yourself into the desert when we found you," he starts with a question in his voice. I smile and begin my story.

"Well I best start with the beginning, I'd been staying in a deep cave around Phoenix, I'd strategically picked this cave because it was located with a … well either it was a thin river or a very deep (maybe a meter and a half) stream inside it" I say and here he looks at me confusedly. "Err, I think that's five feet," I say and he nods and gestures for me to go on. "Well I'd been bathing in the stream/river and I'd changed into my shorts and was looking for my bra and top when I heard footsteps echoing around my cave, now, I didn't know but I assumed they were at the only entrance but this cave was a lot longer and deeper than I had thought, I quick threw my bra on, grabbed my pack and tiptoed for minutes on end deeper and deeper into the cave, when I heard the seekers come closer I began running, I mean this cave had to let out somewhere, there was a stream inside it! So when I heard their footsteps quicken I pushed myself as hard as I could go and when I saw a little light on the floor I dove towards it; unbeknownst to me that was where the stream flowed naturally downward, but what I also didn't know was that the mountain my cave was in was the beginning of the river, and all rivers flow downstream, so I'd found my exit!" I say and Jamie just looks at me with wide eyes and listens intently.

"Well now since I couldn't see in the dark I didn't think to take a breath before diving into a rushing downwards current but luckily after about thirty seconds when I was about to give up, my head popped above water. The bad part was, I was about to go over a very thin very tall waterfall, I felt my feet slip over the edge and I was free falling, completely out of the water face first down down down into what from that far up looked like a puddle, but when I got closer it got bigger and I squinched my eyes shut and managed to get into the water feet first. I popped above water and onto dry land. Now when I was heaving up water I thought to look for the Seekers but all I could see was the crack in the mountain and a stream coming out of it, Seeker free," I say and he smiles and nods telling me to go on, I smile aback. This boy is really growing on me!

"Around then I saw the seekers looking around the cave entrance and I started running, to where I didn't know but I'd eaten my food and drank all my water and I'd arrived at a desert with mountains. I just wanted to get to shade, so I walked for hours and hours when finally I gave up, I fell down onto my back and just tried to breathe, I guess I fell asleep because when I woke up, you guys had found me," I say and he smiles brightly.

"And I'm glad we did," he says and I feel my face stretching into a wide grin, he hugs me. "That sounds really fun though," he says thoughtfully and I wrap my arms around him when he begins to pull away.

"It was," I reply and he chuckles.

Jamie POV:

This girl really is wonderful. It's getting increasingly hard to keep my eyes open but I notice Cat's eyes are closed. I repress a chuckle and put her into her bed and retire to mine. What a night.


	6. AN

I'm terribly sorry to my faithful readers but I'm leaving in about five minutes until Monday morning, so I won't be posting :( but please PM me with any ideas you have for what should happen next with Jamie and Cat ;)


	7. Chapter 7

**_I do not own The Host, and thank you to Aly for letting me borrow your laptop to update my fics! Here goes nothing:_******

I'm dreaming a pleasant dream than I can't possibly remember when I suddenly see a shark gnawing at my ankle! I thrash around and my eyes snap open. I see a smiling Jamie shaking me awake my my ankle. I sigh in relief and get up.

"You nearly scared me half to death!" I exclaim and he laughs. I thump his head and he pouts. "Breakfast?" I ask and he nods. It's quite quiet and dark in this tunnel and I quickly proceed to run into jamie. "OOps! Sorry," I say as he puts his arm around my waist to steady me.

"It's alright," he says smoothly and keeps his arm where it is. I'm surprised to say the least but I like it, I am expecting him to remove it when we're in the light but he doesn't. I smile and put my arm around his waist as well and I look up to him looking down at me with a smile. I smile back and we continue walking to the kitchen. The raiders will be back in a week or two so right now breakfast is a flavorless porridge with some murky cave water. At our round rock table (I wonder if these are natural because they're quite uneven and made of the purply rock that the rest of the caves are) I sit in between Jamie and Wanda. On Wanda's right is Ian, then Sunny, then Kyle, Jared, Mel, Jamie and I. Today is a bit more social.

"So, Cat, tell us about how you got here," Ian says and I launch into my story with Jamie interrupting sometimes to describe something I had missed. By the end we are almost done with our porridge and everyone is looking at me. "So, you jumped through a hole in a cave and flew off a waterfall?" Ian asks. I nod and he smiles brightly. "Sounds pretty sick if you ask me," he says and we all chuckle a bit. Breakfast ends and Jamie grabs my hand (to which I get a wink from Wanda) and pulls me out towards the big room.

"Today we're harvesting," he says and I nod. Jamie, Mel, Jeb, Jared and I all work on harvesting. By the time we finish half of the field we're all exhausted and sweaty. Trudy brings us all a lot of water and goes off to start making lunch. I'm surprised it's only a few of us working in the field but a lot are gone on a raid. We begin the next half of the field and when we are finished it's past lunchtime but Jamie is starving (as usual) so we go get some chow. We arrive hand in hand and get some warm soup and some bread. It's not horrible but it's also kind of leftovers. Jared, Mel and Jeb bathed before eating so it's just Jamie and I.

"Why don't you go first?" he suggests and I smile and enter with a hard bar of soap. I first soap up and wash my clothes and leave them on the ground to dry. Then I take a few minutes to thoroughly clean myself with the harsh soap. I feel clean but the soap was quite painful really. I quick dress in my damp clothes and exit.

"Jamie you can …" I drop off as he's nowhere in sight. "Jamie?" I ask. He wouldn't just leave me... Would he? I look around a bit and sigh about to leave.

"BOO!" someone screams from behind me and I let out a shriek too. I jump around and find Jamie laughing hysterically. I glare.

"Funny," I say with as much venom as I can muster and start walking out.

"No, no" Jamie says in between fits of laughter. "I'm sorry, Cat," he says softly and I turn around and see his pleading (yet slightly amused) dark eyes and my resolve crumbles and I smile softly.

"It was kind of funny, wasn't it?" I ask and he beams and hugs me. My head rests on his chest and I hug him back. We stand there for awhile, each other barely visible because of the warm steam. I look up and find his face a lot closer than it was before. His eyes seem to bore into mine and they get bigger as he gets closer, our noses touching. He tilts his head just slightly and presses his soft, warm lips against mine.

Let me tell you, it was mindblowing. In a sweet way, there was no tongue but I loved it anyway. I pulled back and we smiled at each other. He soon quickly bathes and returned his arm around my waist and I do the same. We're walking around the caves aimlessly until dinner, him just telling me some childhood stories and me being silent and smiling like a goofball. It's soon dark and we head to dinner. It's much the same as lunch except the soup is piping hot so our table (the same as before) has time to talk for a while. Today Wanda isn't telling a story so we just chat idly for a bit.

"Cat, what happened to your family?" Jared asks me and I involuntarily wince.

"My father helped Seekers find me, I'm an only child and my mother died during childbirth," I say and look down into my not-steaming soup. I start eating and it's quiet except for Jared's apology.

"It's fine," I say with a smile (a bit forced) "It happened a long time ago," I say.

"What happened when they found you?" Jamie asks and I begin.

"I was about ten at the time, I was figuring out how to build a fire and at the time I didn't know not to build a fire at night when you're practically a fugitive. I was roasting some rodent over the fire just after sunset and I heard some quiet footsteps slowly approaching," I say and I continue as I flashback into the story.

"My father came up to me and asked if I was alright, he told me how he missed me and at first I only looked over him, about to jump on him because I missed him. Then I heard a few more footsteps and I was surrounded. I looked up into my dad's eyes reflecting not only the firelight but also the silver in his eyes. I quickly scaled the tree next to me (it had shorter branches so i could easily climb it) and started slowly making my way across the forest I was in. I thought I'd lost them after i got down and crossed a stream. I was wrong, I saw then at the other side of the stream the next morning and I ran. I found myself at a cliff. What they saw was me jumping off but there was actually a little part of the cliff jutting out to stand on and under it was a small cave, I hid in there for a few days without much food or water until I was sure they were gone, I haven't seen my dad since," I say and they all just kind of stay silent. That was the end of that dinner.


	8. Chapter 8

_**I do not own the Host. Thank you for my one reviewer! If anybody else likes this please please review! Writers live off of reviews! It's like coffee! Also I'm kind of getting tired of this story line…**_

_**Save the Amur Leopard: thank you for reviewing! Your reviews make me smile! :)**_

After dinner Jamie holds my hand and we walk to our room. It's silent, I'm not sure if it's a comfortable silence but it's not totally awkward. He allows me to walk in before him and I sit down on his bed. I really want a hug right now. He smiles softly at my choice of beds and sits behind me so I'm between his legs and he wraps his arms around my waist and rests his chin on my shoulder.

"Hi there," he whispers. I smile and lean against his tones chest.

"Hi," I whisper back and he hugs me closer. I turn my head to the right and find Jamie very close; he presses his lips to mine soft as a butterfly and uses one hand to brush some hair away from my face. His hand lingers on my face and he breaks apart with a bit of a sad look in his eye. I immediately feel guilty. For what? I'm not sure.

"Jamie, what's wrong? Did I do something?" I ask and look down, heat rising to my face. He picks me up and turns me around so I'm sitting in his lap with my legs crossed around his waist.

"Nothing's wrong, Cat," he says softly, stroking my cheek. He smiles softly and I relax. "I was just thinking, my dad brought Seekers to Mel and I too. I know how you feel," he says and his eyes get a little foggy. Mine get really foggy too and a single tear drops down my face. He kisses it away and more tears fall. His tears start running too. I finally have someone to confide in about all of this. Someone who will understand, it feels great to have that burden of being the only one off my back. I softly press my lips against Jamie's. I can taste his tears falling as well. He wraps one arm around my waist, pulling me tight to him and the other grasps softly at the hair at the nape of my neck. He seeks entrance to my mouth and I open it to him, our tongues are doing a slow, sensual dance and he tugs softly at the hair he grasps and I sigh against his lips. My face heats up when I feel him smile but I wrap my arms around his neck and play with his hair. The kiss gets more heated and I feel the heat rushing over my face and down to my toes.

"Cat," he whispers hoarsely. My eyes flip open meet his. We are both gasping and our chests heave against one another's.

Jamie POV:

Her chest presses against mine as we stare into each other's eyes. She flips her eyes shut and I follow when her mouth attacks mine. The kiss gets hungrier and I feel a certain –err- tugging in my pants. I feel a blush spread to my face and ears. She pays no mind to it though, even pulling herself closer. I eagerly tighten my hold on her and tug on her hair a bit only more aroused when she moans again. God, that sound is wonderful.

"Cat," I whisper again and we tough foreheads, panting. "You are so beautiful," I say, putting words to my thoughts. Her hair is mussed and her face is flushed and glowing, her eyes bright blue orbs staring back at me. She looks down demurely and I use the hand in her hair to gently lift her chin up. "You are as beautiful as the moon, and brighter than the stars," I whisper to her and her eyes shine. Her lips press together and she smiles softly.

"Thank you, Jamie," she whispers. "Nobody has ever said anything so wonderful to me," she says with tears in her eyes and she kisses me sweetly. But, as before, it quickly gets hot and she pushes her hands under my shirt and her hands are ice cubes against my hot abs and chest. I gasp and my muscles all tighten at the coolness, including my pants, though I'm too 'in the zone' to be embarrassed. I raise my arms when she tries to pull my t-shirt off and she throws it somewhere. Her hands roam over my chest and back. I tug off her t-shirt leaving her in her bra. I trail my hands up from her hips to the bottom of her bra and back down. I do this a few times before I pull away and look her in the eyes. She nods and we go back to kissing. Her nails dig into my back when I softly cup her breasts and I moan. This girl will be the death of me. My pants are so tight it hurts and I'm about to do something about it when someone walks in my room and clears his throat. Cat throws herself off of me and covers herself with my sheets and I just look at Jared. He's smirking.

"Be happy it's me and not Mel or else you'd both be dead," he says and I silently thank whoever is up there because he's right.

"So," I say and trail off.

"Oh," Jared says. "The raiders will be back sooner than we thought," he says and walks out. I face palm and look at a bewildered Cat who looks seriously shaken and mentally scarred. I help her put her shirt back on and tuck her in.

"Goodnight," I say and kiss her cheek. She smiles weakly. I am about to walk away but don't. "Hey, Cat?" I say and sit on her bed.

"Yeah?" she asks softly.

"Will you be my girlfriend?" I ask and smile. She beams.

"Of course, silly!" she giggles and I walk away and get in bed, satisfied.


	9. Chapter 9

**Okay, so wow. I haven't written in forever so I apologize deeply. I guess I might get more readers because this is based off of The Host (Which I do not own) and it just became a movie (WHICH IS AMAZING) so here it is!**

**Thanks to Jc because without your review that I got in email form, I would have totally forgotten about this story.**

This morning Jamie said that he's going to show me the sky again. It's only been a short while but I really miss it. He holds my hand (I love when he does that) and he takes me through winding uphill corridors until I see a light ahead. He jumps up a ledge and then helps me up, the two of us sitting on the brownish rock and letting our eyes adjust to the sun.

"This is amazing, Jamie," I whisper and rest my head against his shoulder. I let the warm sun heat up my sleep-cold toes.

"You're amazing," he whispers and nudges his nose against my face, urging me to turn towards him, so I do. He presses tons of soft kisses around my face before resting his lips on mine.

"I really like kissing you," he murmurs, his lips moving against mine.

"Good because the feeling is mutual," I reply and before he kisses me again I can feel his smile.

"Jamie?" someone calls from far below. "Jamie!" I think it's Mel, she sounds frantic.

"Let's go down, no use worrying them," Jamie smiles at me and helps me down into the room.

"Oh," Mel snarls and I back up a bit. "You too. Ever since you came, Jamie has been different," she steps forward.

"Mel that's not-" Jamie starts but Mel cuts him off.

"Don't start James. Ever since she's gotten here you've been different. It may have been only a few days but I can tell." She growls and backs me up against a wall. I know she is protective but I haven't done anything. I'm sweating so much. "He skipped out on tilling the crops, skipped class, and I mean Jamie! You haven't talked to barely anyone in days!" she turns to gesture at him before turning back to me, and I'm backed against a wall. Nervous sweat is dripping down my nose and I'm sure she's going to hit me.

"Jamie, stay away from her." She snarls before slowly stepping away. I see Jared look confused in the doorframe and I think I'm the only one too see him.

"She's my girlfriend." Jamie states and she growls and rushes back to me, her fist in the air and I clench my eyes and jaw closed, waiting for impact. But it never comes. I crack open my eyes and see Jared gently pulling Mel away and I think he's scolding her but I can never tell. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding and slide down the wall.

"You okay Cat?" Jamie crouches in front of me.

"I was sure she was going to punch me," I sigh and look at him. "Can you show me to the bath area, I've forgotten how to get there."

"Yeah, let's go. Then I gotta go talk to Mel. She hasn't called me James since I almost pushed Kyle into the river..." he sighs but I can't help but laugh.

"Why would you push him into a river?" I giggle and he smiles before sighing.

"He was just being an idiot. Kyle does that often." We walk all the way and he waits for me while I bathe and while he bathes I use the restroom. We've got a good system going.

We walk back out and I overhear a conversation.

"Jared, how can we trust her. She seems nice but so does everyone else. They all had to prove themselves, why doesn't she?" Mel asks. I hear Jared sigh and I can tell that he never says no to her.

"Let her come on a raid with us. But, if she's injured, it's on you babe," there's a kissing noise then their footsteps recede. I sigh, and Jamie does too.

When we get to the kitchen for breakfast, it's almost over. Jamie eats a boatload but muy apetite is gone. At the table behind us I hear Mel again.

"So Jamie should stay here," she says and Jared sighs.

"Why?" I actually think that's one of the twins.

"Because she's all nice and perfect around him," everyone at the table sighs and my eyes start to sting. Why can't she just trust me. I did nothing to deserve this.

"Hey, it'll be okay," Jamie brushes his knuckles across mine.

"But will it be?" I ask. "How can you know?"

_**Sorry this is short, still not many readers.**_


	10. Chapter 10

**_Before I start I want to thank my reviewers: XxXBeautifulXxXDreamerXxX and BLACK FIRE-SilverGallagherGirl_**

**_Extra thanks to BLACK FIRE-SilverGallagherGirl because your PM really meant a lot to me. You could have just asked me to update again but you went above and beyond the standards and really inspired me to write. Thank you!_**

"WHat do you mean send her on a raid? She just got here!" Jeb raises his voice at Mel, me and Jamie standing beside her.

"She needs to earn her place," Mel growls.  
"How did you earn your place?" He asks and she looks down. "That's right, you didn't. I love you darlin' but for one thing, Wanda earned your place, not you. And you wanna know how she diddit'? SHe stayed here and she stayed quiet."

"She needs to prove herself," Mel says. "Without Jamie around."

"Whoa. Now why can't the boy come?"

"She's different without him around."

"How do you know?"

"I don't. She's never away from him."  
"I think you're just upset that you get to spend less time with him."  
"Maybe, maybe not. Why does he need to come?"  
"To protect her."

"From what!"  
"Well, frankly darlin'. To protect her from you."

"Jamie isn't going and we're leaving now."

"Suit yourself. Sorry, kid. I tried to stop her," Jamie is silent and seething and I just stare at the group of them. Families shouldn't fight. They're all that they have left.

"Let's go, Cat. Time to leave," I follow the angry woman out of the room, but I can feel Jamie's stare on my back.

"Mel. Why is she here?" Wanda looks surprised and a little upset.

"Because, Wanda. I love you, you know you're my sister but please don't ask."

"Mel, the poor girl just got here. Give her a chance," I think it's Ian says. It makes me happy that they're standing up for me but...  
"Just stop, if I need to prove myself by doing this, then I will. Don't argue over me because you're a family and I'm the intruder. ANd Mel, I think that even if I do everything right, you still won't like me," I say and stand my ground.

"Maybe, maybe not," she says and I sigh, I knew I was right.

"And, if you still don't want me with Jamie... Then I guess we'll have to break up," I hate myself for saying it but Mel sighs in relief.

"Wait, you and Jamie are...?" Ian asks, Wands looks extremely happy, but then after she thinks about what I've said, she frowns at Mel.

"I knew it."

"Jared!" Mel slaps him and he laughs.

"They're obviously head over heels for each other."

"Shut up."

"Alright, off we go!" Kyle shouts and we walk for a while. So much excitement for a long walk through the tunnels. Soon though someone's hands cover my eyes.

"Can't have you knowing the way out, can we?" Mel says and I sigh, so do a few others.

"Mel, she's just a girl. Calm down," Jared's voice is near and I sigh again. I'll never have a love like that.

"Here we are," she removes her hands and we all get into trucks, I see a jeep parked in the corner too. I wonder how they got them...

We drive through the desert until we get onto a highway. Before long, we're on our way to a supermarket in Phoenix.

"Cat, why don't you come shopping with me?" Wanda asks and I smile at her effort.

"What about my eyes?" I ask and she smiles.

"I'm sure we've got an extra pair of contacts," I can't deny her cute face and agree, soon with silver eyes of my own once we park.

"They won't question it if we don't pay, just smile and thank the owner when we leave," Wands briefs me on etiquette before we enter.

**I only hope that I can prove myself for Mel.**


	11. Chapter 11

**_First, addressing my reviewers!_**

**_Jc: why can't you make an account :( and I'm gonna try to update a lot but school starts again Monday so...no promises :( I think I'll write a ton all weekend and then post it in sections to make it easier..._**

**_BLACK FIRE-SilverGallagherGirl: I'm happy that you're happy that I'm updating :) but honestly, this is the first time in like 6 months that I've updated... And what is yours about? Maybe I'll check it out :)_**

"Okay, Cat. We do need food but first, we're getting fancy shampoo and clothes for us girls. The homemade soap ruins my hair," Wanda says with a wink as we walk down the 'Body' aisle.

"Hmm... Let's get twenty floral-scented shampoos, and matching conditioners..." We neatly pile them into the cart but I'm getting increasingly nervous around all of these souls.

"Hey, it's okay," Wanda places a reassuring hand on my back and we roll down to body and face soap.

"We should get a lot because those boys sure do smell," I say with a quiet laugh, trying to lighten my mood, Wanda takes my hint and we make light banter after piling seventy bars of linen scented soap and thirty bottles of liquid soap into our huge cart. On a whim I grab a handful of loofas and 'The Softest' towels.

"Wanda, how long are raids usually?" I ask as we grab tubes of toothpaste and a jumbo-pack of toothbrushes.

"Well before I came, weeks. But now, days, maybe a week or two," she smiles as we reach the paper aisle.

"They really need you, and they all love you," I sigh and think of Mel. WHy does she hate me?

"Thinking about Mel? She hated me too at first," she says and we both try to reach the huge pack of toiletpaper at the top of the rack but we're both petite.

"Excuse me, do you need help?" Oh my god. A soul. Sweat is forming on my palms and toes.

"Oh, thank you...?" Wands trails and smiles gratefully at the man, he must be over six feet tall!

"Faces the Sun," he smiles and grabs two packages, placing them into our cart.

"Thank you, I am Seer in Darkness," Wanda makes up a name. I start thinking of something if he asks.

"Having a get together?" he smiles gently at the quantity in our cart.

"Yes, the family of my and Fades in the Wind's host bodies are visiting us," Wands lies and the man smiles before walking off.

"Holy crap," I whisper and breathe again.

"Cat, they don't suspect anything and they will believe everything we say. We should get a few more things then leave. We can get food at the next stop," we grab all of the necessary toiletries and a bag of pre-made, pre-heated baked chicken for the road. I'm waiting for someone to stop us, but they don't. We nod at the man by the door in thanks and pack out items in the truck, save for the chicken.

"We brought food!" Wanda giggles when Ian nuzzles her neck. Everyone digs in but my appetite is gone.

"You hungry, Cat?" Jared asks and holds out a chunk of chicken.

"No thank you," I whisper and find Wanda's reassuring touch once again on my shoulder.

"You did great," she smiles and I return it, but barely.

"What did you get?" That's Kyle.

"Toiletries," Wands says and the boys groan.

"Food is more important," Kyle urges.

"Food spoils, Kyle. So we should get it last."

"Do you guys ever have ice cream?" I ask and Mel laughs but the rest generally shake their heads.

"We did last time, when was the last time you had it?" Ian asks.

"Before my dad was Turned," I sigh and look out the window. I wish my dad was here.

"Shame, the souls actually make really good fro-yo," Brandt comments.

"Dude." Kyle.

"What? The ice cream blows."

"... Point taken," seeing the boys banter reminds me of how I never had friends because my dad always kept me close to himself.

"Ian, come with me next time?" I hear Wanda whisper next to me.

"Of course, love."

If this all goes well, maybe Jamie and I will be like that...

But, considering Melanie's sudden and irrelevant hatred towards me, it's more than likely not going to happen.


	12. Chapter 12

Naturally, Mel ignores me all night. Also, coincidentally, Mel is also sharing a room with me. As much as she intimidates me, I know no one will let her hurt me.

"Good job today, Kit Cat," Brant ruffles my hair. Kit Cat is the name the guys have started calling me, after finding out about my obsession with the chocolaty candy.

"You did well with Faces the Sun right there," Wands smiles at my nervousness (I guess it's still apparent how much it rattled me) and we head to bed. As much as I need a good sleep, my slumber is restless and I end up pushing Mel out of the bed... twice, on accident, much to her anger. And I mean MUCH to her anger, she's ordered me to sleep on the couch. Not that I mind, it's better than sleeping in the caves I lived in before they found me. As usual when I can't sleep, I hum a soft tune to get my mind off of stressors. The tune ends up being 'This' by Ed Sheeran. Although he was Turned, the alien inside still sings. Maybe Ed is still inside, like Mel was still inside when Wanda became the 'Mel.'

My thoughts eventually lull me to sleep and after a bit, I wake up with a hand shaking my shoulder.

"Time to go, Cat," Mel sighs tiredly and we all hurry into the trucks.

"You girls can sleep until we reach out next destination," Brandt calls form th driver's seat, much to my relief. Ian is sitting in the back seat with Wanda on his lap, her legs stretching across the other two seats. Kyle is in the passenger seat while Mel and I share the third row. I ignore her grumbles and soon find myself in a peaceful slumber. Grunts awake me. The boys are loading big boxes into the back and Wanda is sitting shotgun. I find Mel laying curled up on her side, her head pillowed in my lap. To say the least, I find this extremely alarming. But, I stay calm and find myself drifting off again.

"Okay, so we've got toiletries and new clothes down, who wants to do groceries?" Kyle asks, waking me again. Now, Mel's arms are around my waist. Jared looks back from the driver's seat and chuckles.

"I'll go," I offer and they nod. Ian, Wanda and I set out in the store and stock up.

Mel POV:

"What?" I ask when my head falls off of it's warm pillow and onto a firm surface. I hear a deep chuckle and immedtaiely recognize Jared's laugh.

"What's so funny, Howe?" I sass and he smiles.

"You practically cuddled Cat the whole drive," he smiles and I frown. Weird.

"Yeah, you're lucky she didn't push you over," Brandt laughs loudly and my frown sours even more. It's not funny. She's too nice to push me ov... She's too NICE to push me over. She's nice. She's a very nice girl. Jesus Christ since when do I get off threatening teen girls? God, Jamie must be so mad.

"I think she's having an epiphany," Kyle whispers.

"Prolly realized that Kit Cat isn't so bad aftre all," Brandt chuckles and I glare. Just because I was wrong doesn't mean he can rub it in. Oh, Lord.


	13. Chapter 13

"Hey! You guys ready to go?" Brandt asks from the driver's seat, we all nod our assent.

"We're going home!" Ian shouts to us, much to our happiness. Walking among the souls has creeped me out. What really creeps me out though is Mel's complete and utter silence towards me, spare for a few glances in my direction.

"I'll switch halfway," Ian calls to Brandt. "It's a long drive ahead, everyone get some shut eye."

Ian and Wanda are reclining in the backseat, I'm in the passenger and Jared and Mel are driving the second, smaller truck. My head rests against the uncomfortable window when Brandt taps me on my shoulder.

"Yeah?" I yawn and look over at him.

"Use this as a pillow," he hands me the sweatshirt hanging over his shoulder.

"Thanks," I smile and rest my head against it's soft warmth.

"No problem," his voice trails off as I doze off.

Not soon later I awake to being held in someone's arms and dropped into the backseat.

"Don't worry. Just moving so Ian and Wanda can sit up front," Brandt's muffled voice reaches my ears and I nod, leaning against a thin, bony shoulder. I'm pretty sure it's not Brandt.

"Just go to sleep, Cat," Mel's voice sighs and I snap up, scooching away from her and digging my back into the door handle.

"Oh, hi," I smile nervously and she rolls her eyes.

"I'm not a wild cat, Cat..." The rhyme causes her to giggle. I've never seen her giggle. It's quite nice, really.

"You're not a cat-cat?" I giggle to myself and I find her reluctantly chuckling as well.

"No, Cat. I'm not a cat-cat."

"Really? I was positive you were," I laugh, finding myself easing into conversation with her. She's surprisingly easy to talk to when she's not trying to hate on me.

"Um... I know this is totally random... But, I'm sorry for trying to keep you away from Jamie. I just really want to protect him, you know? Just ask Wanda how I was to her to keep her from talking to him," she looks up at me through her light eyelashes and as much as she 'hated' me, I can't help but understand.

"I get it," I say. "I understand. You may have been a bit... harsher.. than necesary, but I understand," I say and her whole face brightens.

"I know... And I hope..." she sighs and takes a deep breath. "I hope that you and Jamie are very happy together."

****

Sorry this is short, I had driver's ed :(


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